76 General Notes. [f^^ 



Miller observed one on the Delaware River at Essington, Delaware County, 

 Pa.; on July 26, 1908, George noted 3 on the river behind the dyke at 

 Fish House, Camden County, N. J., and on July 26, 1909, he saw a pair at 

 Lardner's Point, also on the Delaware, and near Riverton, Burlington 

 County, N. J. 



At Essington, where my brothers saw one, Dr. J. P. Ball, of Frank- 

 ford, Philadelphia, saw a pair in June, 1908, and a reliable resident of that 

 place told him that Black Ducks occur on the river meadows there all 

 summer, and was of the opinion that they bred sparingly in them. Near 

 this locality, at Tinicuin, Delaware Covmty, Mr. L. I. Smith has seen them 

 as late as May 15, 1902. 



Reliable gunners have also informed me of this bird's occurrence in 

 summer on the Tinicum marshes, where it is undoubtedly a rare breeder. 



In his excellent paper, 'A Pensauken Diary,' publi-shed in 'Cassinia,' 

 XI, 1907, Mr. C. J. Hunt mentions having seen one, as follows (page 49) : 

 "July 9 (1907). — Flushed a Black Duck on the upper creek. Can this 

 bird nest among these marshes?"; and in the same paper (page 51) he 

 includes it in his list of ' Summer Residents of the Pensauken Creek,' proba- 

 bly on the ground of seeing the foregoing bird. 



However, the Black Duck is undeniably a rare summer resident on the 

 upper part of this creek and I have the assurance of reliable farmers and 

 gunners of its regular occurrence in summer upon it. It behooves the 

 ornithologist to confirm these reports by finding a nest, but unfortunately 

 the ardor of our ornithologists is deteriorating as regards swamp and 

 marsh nest-hunting and it may be years before any of them will succeed 

 in discovering a nest. — Richard F. Miller, Harroivgate, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Ducks at Monroe, Michigan. — Possibly some of the readers of 'The Auk' 

 are not aware that the range of the Black Duck seems to be extending 

 steadily westward, and to demonstrate this fact I quote some statistics 

 from the score book of a Duck Club at Monroe, Michigan, at the western 

 end of Lake Erie. Those who shot there from 1865 to 1880 tell me that 

 the taking of a Black Duck was then so uncoinmon as to be a matter of 

 comment. These figures are the percentages of Black Ducks to the aggre- 

 gate number of Black and Mallard taken, fractions omitted. 



This percentage increase in the Black Ducks is not due to any diminution 

 in the number of Mallards, they being as abundant now as twenty years 

 ago. There has, however, been a diminution in the annual take of late 

 years, due to several caiuses: Fewer gunners through a reduction in the 

 club's membership; the daily bag limit law enacted in 1905; and the fact 



